READER’S QUESTION

WE GROW Japanese Quince, Chaenomeles Pink Lady on a wall. I have trained the stems flat against the stonework but, each summer, new branches grow straight out from the wall and are hard to control. If I remove them, we’ll lose flowers. But if I don’t, the shrub will grow too far outwards. Is there a way that I can keep the plant flat on the wall without losing blossom? L. Harrison. CertAInLY. Summer prune your plant as you would a cordon apple. Shorten each outward-growing stem to a stub between 10cm and 15cm long. Doing that will sacrifice some of next winter’s blossom. but the stubs will carry larger clusters that will show up beautifully. In future years, do this when you summer prune apples.